


lady liberty and other pauses

by LostOnMyRoad



Category: Fantastic Four, Marvel, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, ft. sue as best sister, get ready for a wild ride folks there is no consistency in tone here whatsoever, i'll add more tags as i add prompts, just my boys being cute and soft, so do with that what you will
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-05-28 06:11:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19388134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostOnMyRoad/pseuds/LostOnMyRoad
Summary: Collection of spideytorch prompts from tumblr. (comment and I'll write your prompt!)Or, Peter and Johnny explored through moments bitter and sweet.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back with more spideytorch content (although technically its old content i'm sorry, school kicked my behind)  
> Just some short and sweet moments from tumblr prompts. 
> 
> Although, if you comment a prompt (no smut though, lmao) there's a 99% chance I'll write it! Either drop a prompt (it doesn't have to be from the tumblr list, it can be anything) in the comments below or shoot me an ask on tumblr  
> (https://lostonmyroad.tumblr.com/) 
> 
> hope you enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:   
> Peter coming in soak and wet and freezing cold and Johnny getting all worried about him catching a cold and flaming on to warm him up.

Peter stumbles in through the window at 3am. Johnny sits up and rubs the sleep out of his eyes. He glares at Peter, ready to start his rant about _some people needing their beauty sleep, Parker,_ when he notices that Peter is soaking wet. Like, someone pushed him into the river kind of wet. His annoyance is abruptly replaced with concern.

He tumbles out of bed, already warming himself up with just enough flame that it doesn’t set anything in the room on fire. He pulls off the mask before putting his hands on Peter’s face. Peter sighs and leans into the warmth. He’s got eyebags so deep they’re purple, and his eyes close involuntarily as Johnny cradles his face.

Even through the heat of his hands, Johnny can feel the cold practically radiating off his body. He presses himself into Peter’s side for a moment, before tugging at the rest of the Spider-man costume.

“It’s got to come off,” he mutters sleepily, “before you get hypothermia and I have to explain to M.J. that you died because of your unhealthy love of spandex.”

Peter huffs before slipping off the rest of the costume until he’s in his boxers. While he does that Johnny grabs a towel from the bathroom. Peter’s sitting on the edge of the bed, so Johnny walks over and starts toweling his hair. He’s gentle, because it seems like Peter could use it tonight. He bites his lip and finishes drying the hair, unspoken concern on his lips.

He throws the towel into the bathtub and goes back into the room, tugging Peter down into the bed with him. He pulls them together so that Peter can feel the warmth. Peter sighs, tired but content, pressing his face into the crook of Johnny’s neck.

“You want to tell me what happened?” Johnny presses, voice soft. Peter shakes his head.

“Ok,” Johnny says, and makes a note to ask him in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:   
> "Aw, you're cute."

“Ya know, Pete, I take back what I said about you having a better fashion sense than Reed. I only thought that because you happen to rock the nerd look.”

Peter just chucks another shirt at him.

Johnny peels it off his face and holds it out. It’s got a hole that he sticks his finger through.

“Do you not have any dress shirts,” he asks, “or do you not know what they are.”

Peter throws a pair of jeans at him this time. He keeps rummaging through the closet, muttering furiously under his breath. Johnny sighs.

“It’s just a gala, Peter. Nobody will care if you…stand out a bit.”

“I’m going as your fiancée this time,” Peter says hurriedly. “I refuse to headline the Bugle wearing my so-called nerd clothes.”

The word fiancée still makes Johnny’s heart jump, and he grins, big and wide.

Peter finally finds a shirt that’s white, doesn’t have any holes, and looks like it doesn’t need a laundry machine. Or a trash can.

He pulls it on, followed by the suit jacket and pants that Sue had gifted him. _Peter’s a great find_ , she’d said to him in private before handing them to Peter as a birthday present. _But he dresses even worse than Reed does._

Johnny’s glad someone agrees with him.

Peter finishes buttoning everything up and turns to him, gesturing wildly. “Is this good?”

“Mm, its perfect.”

Peter smiles, small and sweet.

“Aw, you’re so cute,” Johnny says, getting up off the bed to kiss him. Peter does an admirable job trying to control his blush, although he fails miserably. Johnny just laughs and smooths down the wrinkles in the fabric.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> peter has terrible fashion sense and this gives johnny a lot of pain


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> “No, it’s not like that.”

Johnny should have known this was coming. He should have seen it from a thousand miles away. They’re both so stupid. This fight is stupid. And yet they’re both too stubborn to stop. Reed often laughs and calls them both hotheads, but he’s right. They’re even more hardheaded than Ben.

“I’m just saying, I don’t think you should—”

“I’m taking the mission,” Johnny grinds out. “Whether you like it or not.”

“But—”

“I’m taking it.”

“Surely someone else can handle it.”

“That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t go.”

Peter distractedly runs a hand through his hair. “I mean, it’s just that—”

Johnny cuts him off for what feels like the hundredth time. “Do you think I can’t defend myself?”

Peter straightens abruptly, a wary look on his face.

“Because I can,” Johnny says. “I can defend myself just fine.” He lights his hand on fire, putting it between them. He lets the flame spread through the air, careful not to set anything on fire. “I’m a member of the Fantastic Four. I’ve been a hero since I was sixteen. And I trained to be a pilot before that.” _I survived getting my heart broken, he adds silently. I survived being in space. I survived not knowing whether I would ever be able to control my powers. I’ve survived everything so far. In one piece? Maybe not so much, but he’s still here._ He takes a deep breath. “Do you think I can’t defend myself?”

Peter’s expression is a weird mix of pride and worry. “No, it’s not like that.”

Johnny’s tired of people thinking he’s an easy target. Every villain seems to want to use him as bait, and now his own partner thinks he’s target practice.

“Then what is it?” he asks, trying not to let the frustration show in his voice. Judging by Peter’s slight wince, he doesn’t do a good job.

Peter sighs deeply. “I’m scared,” he confesses. “I just think, what if you don’t come back. I mean, I thought Gwen was safe, I thought Harry was safe, I thought Ben was safe.” His voice falters. “And none of them came back.”

And bingo, Johnny thinks. Here’s the heart of the problem. He extinguishes the flame. He steps closer, until there’s only inches between then, and presses their foreheads together.

“Look at me, web head.” Peter’s eyes are a beautiful brown, and he runs a thumb under one of them. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me until the end.”

Peter closes his eyes, bringing his hands to Johnny’s waist. They stay like that for a second, before Johnny pulls away to look him in the eyes.

“Don’t underestimate me,” he says, trying to tell Peter that he won’t tolerate being thought of as an easy target, and Peter must hear the words he’s not saying because he nods, solemn.

When he returns from the mission a week later, he doesn’t miss the split-second relief in his eyes.

He presses the souvenir he’d gotten into Peter’s hands (something stupid from the local gift shop) and leans in to kiss him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> any guesses on what the souvenir is?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> "How did you get in here?"

He bursts into his room with so much force that the door rebounds off the wall and hits him in the face. He absolutely does not spend thirty seconds trying not to hold back tears. He kicks aside the clothes on the floor and makes his way to his bed. It’s been a long day, and he can’t wait to sleep.

He pulls back the covers on his bed and collapses into in, falling into a dreamless sleep.

When he wakes up, the sunlight is coming in through the open window, and birds are singing, and Spider-man is sitting in his swivel chair by his desk. Wait.

He screams so loudly that Spider-man jumps onto the ceiling in panic. He’s dropped the magazine he’d been reading and is hanging upside down on his ceiling.

“How did you get in here?” he asks. Well, yells.

Spider-man just points at the open window. Johnny stares back at him, mouth hanging open. Spider-man shrugs.

Johnny throws his hands up in the universal gesture for why because he can’t wait to hear this story.

Spider-man unglues himself from the ceiling and lands so that he’s standing in front of him. He’s rubbing the back of his head rather sheepishly

“I found a lead on the villain we’ve been tracking,” he gets out, “and I just thought you might want to know.”

Johnny resists the urge to bang his head against the wall. “We were rivals literally two weeks ago. Why are you like this.” The last part comes out as more of a statement than a question.

Spider-man winces. “That was…admittedly my fault.”

Johnny crosses his arms.

Spider-man crosses his too, and Johnny can only imagine he’s pouting under the mask. “It was your fault too! You’re the one who insisted on showing off!”

“Oh yeah, well you—you—”

Spider-man mimics checking the time on his wrist. “I haven’t got all day, torch.”

Johnny throws his hands in the air in frustration. Then an explosion sounds. It’s close enough to the Baxter building that they feel the shake. Spider-man clutches his head, and Johnny rushes over. He’s unsure of what to do, doesn’t know where to put his hands, or what’s wrong.

“You good, buddy?”

Spider-man groans. “Yeah, just the Spider-sense going off. Too much at once.” He shakes his head before straightening. Johnny watches him carefully. Spider-man gives himself one final moment before looking up at Johnny again.

“You look so concerned,” he says, failing to hide the laugh.

“Only because I’d have to drag your ass out of here if you collapsed,” Johnny mutters under his breath. “And Sue would yell at me.”

“Ready to go?” Spider-man asks, voice full of energy. Johnny nods, and they leap out the open window together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Listen established relationship fluff is good and all but you can pry the rivals to friends to lovers trope out of my cold dead hands)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> can you do something where the two are together, but have barely talked following a huge fight — until johnny goes on a space mission and comes back, hurt badly?

It’s not like they haven’t fought before. They’re both stubborn, and this has led to enough petty arguments that Ben grabs popcorn whenever they happen to have their latest spat in the Baxter building. They’ve had a few serious fights, after which Peter goes out in the Spider-man costume and doesn’t come back for hours and Johnny finds Sue and they sit and watch shitty sci-fi movies until they fall asleep. But it’s never been this bad.

Johnny doesn’t even remember how the fight started. He does remember how it had ended--with slammed doors and a yawning hole between them. This time, things feel different. Like something more final. He’s too angry to think about that though. They both said things they shouldn’t have, took things too far. But his anger is outweighing his guilt, so he doesn’t extend the olive branch.

They don’t talk after that. Not even a text. The radio silence continues.

The Fantastic Four have a mission the next week, and Peter doesn’t show up to wish him luck like he usually does. Sue glances around as they get ready to leave Earth, like something isn’t adding up.

“Hey,” she calls. “Where’s Peter? He’s never late to say goodbye.”

Johnny crosses his arms and doesn’t allow himself to feel hurt. “Dunno, guess his luck finally ran out.”

Sue looks at him strangely, and apparently knows him too well, because she squeezes his arm as she walks past and says, “We’ll get him for that. He won’t know what hit ‘im.” She winks as she turns to the control panel. 

The rocket fires up and they leave Earth for the stars and planets a thousand light years away.

It’s a routine mission to space, until its not. Johnny remembers taking a hit, falling out of the sky, spiraling down like an out of control shooting star. Thinking,  _ I’m sorry.  _ To Sue, and Reed, and Ben, and still Peter. Because even if Peter and him aren’t talking, this is gonna kill him. 

In the moments before he hits the ground he hears Sue yelling, and feels his downward movement abruptly stop. Reed caught him, he realizes when the familiar color of their uniforms registered in his brain. He must have stretched in order to catch him. He manages to say thanks, or at least he thinks he does. 

He closes his eyes on one planet and wakes up on another. 

...

When he wakes up, his side is killing him. The pain is the only thing he registers for a moment, before the feel of someone’s hand in his.

He opens his eyes to see Peter slumped in a chair next to the med-bay bed. It’s dark, with all the lights off, but he can still make out the circles under Peter’s eyes and the faint hint of stubble. He tries to call up the anger from a week ago, and finds it isn’t there anymore, not when Peter looks like this. 

He sighs, before squeezing Peter’s hand. He wakes up slowly, then all at once when he takes in his surroundings. 

They don’t say anything, Johnny just gestures to the extra space in the bed with the hand that’s not in Peter’s vice grip, and Peter climbs in with him, carefully avoiding any bandaged areas. They mold into each other, too exhausted to do much else.

…

When they wake up the next morning, Sue walks in and sees them together, and she smiles. She winks at Johnny on the way out. 

Peter sits up, carding his fingers through Johnny’s hair, slowly and thoughtfully, before letting his head thunk against the wall. 

“I’m sorry,” he says, no trace of the fury that has always been a part of him. Johnny hums quietly. 

“Me too.”

And maybe they will fight again, but they’re not going to give up on each other without a fight. The thought soothes him, and he falls back asleep to the rhythm of Peter’s hand carding through his hair. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i rlly enjoyed writing this one, its...soft
> 
> also i know that spider-man, peter, is sometimes shown as lacking anger (mcu spiderman, who i love dearly, definitely lacks some of Peter's trademark fury) so i wanted to put hints of that here. i don't know where its from, but there's a comic panel in which its mentioned that peter was chosen for his rage. 
> 
> he's soft, sure, but its in between these moments of anger
> 
> johnny knows this, and he loves peter

**Author's Note:**

> i love my bois


End file.
